Evangélicos

Evangélicos is the Spanish name given to the Hispanic evangelical church, a rapidly growing Protestant denomination. In Latin America, Catholicism plays a major role in the lives of the generally devout Hispanic peoples, having been the only legal state religion in the countries from the start of Spanish rule into the 1800s and 1900s. However, the arrival of Methodist, Presbyterian, and other evangelical ministers from Britain and America in Latin America led to many conversions, and a large Protestant community emerged in Chile due to the work of Canut of Bon. In 1900, Latin America had 50,000 Protestants, and, by 1930, 1% of Latin America's population was Protestant. However, this number dramatically increased to 64 million in 2000, making up 15% of the continent's population. By the late 1990s, 8,000 Latin Americans were deserting the Catholic Church for Protestantism every day, and, by the 2010s, Brazil (the largest Catholic country in the world) was losing 500,000 Catholics every year. Protestants grew from 9% of Brazil's population in 1991 to up to 15.1% (possibly up to 22%) in 2006. Even in Mexico, another predominantly-Catholic country, Catholics dropped from 98% of the population in the mid-20th century to 88% in 2006. Reasons in the rise of the Evangélicos include the failure of the Catholic Church to educate people in the Catholic faith due to inadequate resources, a lack of devotees' attachments to the Church, a lack of deeper Bible study, insufficient worship, and less pastoral attention (caused by a shortage of priests, with a priest serving 7,176 Catholics in Latin America, compared to one priest for 1,325 Catholics in the USA). Protestantism is mostly homegrown in Latin America, as 60% of Latin American Catholic priests are foreigners, while only 10% of Protestant pastors are; the Evangélicos are a movement of lay people. The movement also grew as a means to combat alcoholism (a problem among the urban poor), to improve family ties, and to develop a stronger sense of perosnal morality. During the 1950s, many young people were drawn towards Marxism and away from the Catholic Church, and Catholic missionaries discovered that the Church was a part of the oppression which communists sought to fight; the bishops realigned themselves with the poor, but the poor wanted more than just political guidance. Therefore, the poor turned towards Pentecostalism for both political and spiritual guidance. Evangélicos have their own unique theology which separates them from mainline Protestantism and even American evangelism. Many Evangélicos attend charismatic mega-churches which ironically appeal to deep-seated aspects of Catholic culture such as blessed water (shunned by classical Protestantism) and an authoritarian pastoral style (denying the Protestant concept of priesthood of all believers). During the 2010s, the Evangélico community in the United States developed an identity linked to the immigrant experience. While Evangélicos were socially more conservative than Hispanics generally, they were quicker to fight for social justice than their white brethren, especially on the topic of immigration. In 2013, it was predicted that the 2/3rds of remaining Hispanic Catholics would be cut in half due to conversions to the Evangélico movement.